[Strategic] New tile layers

[Kai Krueger]

Hi,

On 08/29/2011 02:41 AM, Tom Hughes wrote:
> On 29/08/11 09:31, Ilya Zverev wrote:
>
>> Hi! The page http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Featured_tiles was
>> created on February with a MapQuest layer as a sole candidate. Half a
>> year has passed, but there were no developments in that area — just more
>> featured tiles proposed, none considered. Are there plans to add any of
>> them to the main page? This question is related to Kai Krueger's offer
>> of openbusmap, of course:

Just to be clear, I am not involved in running or maintaining the 
OePNV-Karte (openbusmap) in any way, that is Melchior Moos. I am just 
interested in seeing more tile layers being added to the main page to 
demonstrate the wonderful diversity that OSM has achieved. Therefore I 
have tried to look for potential candidates, contact the responsible 
people to see if they are interested and help to negotiate the process 
to get them included.

  would it be just another line on that page, or
>> some action would be taken?

On the code side, it is just a few lines to add an extra layer, so that 
is not the problem. The bigger question is, is the tile layer 
(technically) fit for inclusion and desirable as a representative on the 
main page. Particularly the former requirement narrows the potential 
candidates down to only a very few candidates if at all, as at least 
from the perspective of a hobbyist the resources required to run a world 
wide up-to-date tile server are quite considerable.

>
> Kai is the first person to make a formal proposal to [TO]WG.

I had dropped the ball on this for quite a while until now and I guess 
no one else saw it as high enough priority to actually make the direct 
request to [TO]WG. (Or perhaps the process as defined by SWG [1] wasn't 
clear enough?)

>
> Strangely the [TO]WG are not in the habit of trolling the wiki on the
> off chance that somebody has listed a proposal there so we were unaware
> of any of those proposals.

Yes, the process of the SWG tile layer inclusion policy always intended 
the wiki page just as a staging ground and only after a "formal" request 
to the [TO]WG would it be properly considered for inclusion (which until 
now hadn't happened).

Kai

>
> Tom
>

[1] 
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Strategic_working_group/New_Tile_Layer_Guidelines